Sugar, you catch the Katy, I'll catch that Santa Fe,
doggone my bad luck soul,
Sugar, you catch that Katy and I'll catch that Santa Fe;
I mean the Santy, speakin' about Fe,
When you get in Denver, pretty mama, look around for me.

The woman I love's 'bout five feet from the ground,
doggone my bad luck soul,
Hey, five feet from the ground;
Five feet from the, I mean ground,
She's a tailor-made woman, she ain't no hand-me-down.

I ain't seen my sugar in three long weeks today,
doggone my bad luck soul,
I ain't seen my sugar, three long weeks today;
Three long weeks to- I mean day, girl,
It's been so long, seems like my heart's gonn' break.

I'm gonna run 'cross town, catch that southbound Santa Fe,
doggone my bad luck soul,
Mmm, Lord, that Santa Fe;
I mean the Santy, speakin' about Fe,
Be on my way to what they call lovin' Tennessee.

COMMENTS BY CAT YRONWODE: "Bad Luck Blues" is not a hoodoo-related song per se, but is
included in the Blues and Hoodoo Archive because it gave
rise to a hoodoo-related "answer song" titled "Doggone My Good Luck Soul," recorded in 1927. Two side-notes: "Fishing Clothes" by Lightning
Hopkins is a remake of "Bad Luck Blues," and is one of the two most egregiously
mis-titled blues songs i know; also, the couplets in verses 4 and 5
(but not the metrical structure of the song) were borrowed by Blind Willie McTell.

FURTHER INFORMATION: The following web pages can be consulted for more details about the topics referenced in this song:
V.1 bad luck (crossing and jinxing)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Individual acknowledgements for
transcriptions and discographical data appear on each
song-page, but i want to note that this Blues Lyrics and
Hoodoo archive would never have been possible without the
contributions of Gorgen Antonsson, who generously shared
with me the format and content of his own personal lyrics
archive, and Alan Balfour and Chris Smith, who have
devoted a great deal of time to supplying me with tapes,
transcribed lyrics, and detailed discographical information.
Additionally, i wish to thank the kind members of the prewar
blues e-list who have aided my research in innumerable ways.
If you have missing data to supply, hear a substantially
different take on a transcription, or want to let me know
about a song that has been overlooked in these pages, please
contact me through the prewar blues e-list:
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/pre-war-blues.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Due to certain social, economic, and
political paradigms in place at the time of their
composition, many early blues songs were improperly
copyrighted or not copyrighted at all. Many bore no composer
credits. Many were ripped off by unethical music publishers
who falsely claimed authorship and copyrighted them in their
own names. Many that were once copyright-protected are now
in the public domain due to publishers' or composers'
failures to properly renew the copyrights. Many have since
been ripped off by unethical performers or music publishers
who have pretended to be the composers for the purpose of
securing a belated copyright or who have claimed
"arranger's" credits on songs they falsely swore were
"traditional" when in fact the songs were composed by the
people who originally performed them on record. It is my
sincere belief that the song transcribed on this page bears
the implied moral copyright of its composer, whoever that
may be. If you believe that you control the copyright by
virtue of authorship or legal legerdemain, you may contact
me in a civil and polite manner and i will attempt in good
faith to satisfy your needs in the matter of obtaining
formal permission to quote the lyrics in this scholarly
publication.